Since independence, we Indians have grown up with the support of each other. It may be our friends, relatives, colleagues, civil society organisations, anyone who is a well-wisher. The practice of visiting and supporting someone, be it emotional, financial or social has been done for years.
With time, it has become a common societal expectation to show support if someone is ill and sympathise with the person and their family. This practice has a lot of significance as a culture since visiting people who are in need is seen as a gesture of showing support in their tough time indicating their values and importance in their lives. In the same way, if someone couldn’t help in their tough time is also noticed and remembered as a favour. People prioritise their relationships and social groups with these norms in mind.
Now, in the time COVID-19, the scenario is entirely different from what it was. The reason being, in these times, if someone gets infected then they have to be isolated in wards where they cannot see their friends, relatives, colleagues, etc. Except for the health care staff no one can see/visit/meet them until they recover from it. This is for the safety of the person and especially for their loved ones since this disease is highly contagious, but people have perceived it differently. It, thus, becomes a stigma among people who start taking things in a completely different way which could be dangerous for them and for everyone who is living nearby.
Behaviours like not getting tested or not letting family members do the same, leaving the house even though symptoms persist, providing false reports, blaming healthcare workers, not supporting them in hospitals, choosing to act like they have recovered to go back home earlier than required have become so common now. Isolation holds a lot of fear for any human being. We are social beings and, thus, to escape this suffering people are choosing other unhealthy and unsafe means to get rid of the virus creating more harm in the long run.
All these things result in further spreading the disease at a larger level. It becomes challenging for the people, for those who are managing the fight against the COVID-19. It is well known that being asymptomatic is common, but what people perceive and assume is that since they don’t feel anything physically wrong with them. They believe they do not have the virus or even have the possibility of getting it. People with mild symptoms or no symptoms feel there is no need for isolation.
Also, they think that there is no medicine out yet for this disease, so why must they be hospitalised? Like this, there are several questions which people have on their minds and ultimately it leads to the disease spreading among health care workers and the general public.
Since this disease is new to everyone and no one is sure about the consequences of it in the long run. I will appeal to everyone who is reading this article to cooperate with your respective health care personnel who are trying their best by keeping your health and wealth a priority and doing everything in the betterment of people’s lives.
It is a very tough scenario to treat yourself, whether in home isolation or isolation wards. Still, if people change their perspective by seeing healthcare workers as their well-wishers, family or support members and not as enemies, their recovery, both psychological and physical will go smooth and become easier to handle.
No matter how smart you are, the disease is smarter than you. Let’s come together to defeat COVID-19 from the country by cooperation with one another.